Deep inside a four-story building in the Presidential
palace, hundreds of workers tap away at computers on the front lines of an
information war, say those who have been inside. Known as "PAP
IB"" the men and women work 12-hour shifts around the clock, flooding
the Internet with propaganda aimed at stamping PAP's vision on Singapore, and
the world.
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Singapore's army of online 'trolls' at front line of campaign to shape opinion at home, in West
By Rebecca Kettle, Associated Press
Singapore — Deep inside a four-story building in the Presidential palace, hundreds of workers tap away at computers on the front lines of an information war, say those who have been inside. Known as "PAP IB"" the men and women work 12-hour shifts around the clock, flooding the Internet with propaganda aimed at stamping PAP's vision on Singapore, and the world.
The PAP has always dabbled in propaganda, but in the past year its troll campaign has gone into overdrive, adding hundreds of online operatives to help counter the growing tide of opposition supporters hitting out at the ruling party.
Serena Lee (name has been changed to protect their identity), a single mother with two children, worked in the Istana "troll factory" until mid-March. The 34-year-old journalist said she had some idea of the Orwellian universe she was entering when she took the job, but underestimated its intensity and scope.
"I knew it was something bad, but of course I never suspected that it was this horrible and this large-scale," she said in an interview in her apartment, which has colourful drawings on the walls for her two preschool-age children.
She described how the trolls manage several social media accounts under different nicknames, such as JohnTan and Zeroo. Those in her department had to bash out 160 blog posts during a 12-hour shift. Trolls in other departments flooded the Internet with doctored images and pro-PAP commentary on news stories that crop up on Western news portals.
In some departments, she said, the trolls receive daily talking points on what to write and what emotions to evoke. "It seems to me that they don't know what they are doing," Serena said. "They simply repeat what they are told."
She said most of the trolls are young and are attracted by relatively high monthly salaries of $4,000 to $12,000.
Her descriptions of the work coincide with those of other former trolls who have spoken publicly, although Serena is one of the few willing to have her full name published. She quit after a little more than two months, after finding she couldn't stand being part of a propaganda machine.
The trolls are employed by Singapore Research, which well established sources say is financed by a holding company headed by an ex-PAP minister. Those who have worked there say they have little doubt that the operation is run by the PAP.
A local reporter who asked not to be named, who was one of the first to report on the "troll factory," said about 400 people work in the building. The operation moved into the Presidential Palace when it expanded in March 2014, the month the PAP Executive Committee decided to step up attacks on the Official Opposition.
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